Sitara is a single mother, who is struggling to lead a normal life with her son after an ugly divorce from her abusive ex husband. Rehaan lost his wife years ago, to an accident that is forever etched in his mind and is raising his daughter alone. W...
SHE couldn't stand any longer on her feet. Her posture began to falter at the devastated sight before her. Her heart bled and cried, making it nearly impossible for her to not weaken.
"This is Neeta. Her husband had attempted to kill out of anger her over a small matter of their son's school fees." Aisha explained, looking at the woman seated across them with folded hands and a look of despair painted all over her bruised features.
It was her first day at the NGO. They were supposed to aid the rural women and children who were left helpless at the hands of their primary caretaker and probably had no other means to earn for themselves. She felt like she was crumbling a little everytime she heard their stories.
Her eyes welled up because her heart did hold empathy, but it wouldn't have pained this much if it hadn't hit home. In her, she saw a fragment of her past. She wondered if she looked the same to the world. Helpless and pitiful.
She pushed the lump forming in her throat, circling her arms around Neeta's dainty figure and engulfed her in an embrace. She had cried like a child.
"You don't have to worry, hmm? I'll personally look after your son's schooling. He'll be able to go whichever that his mother wishes." She whispered to her, clasping her hands in hers as a silver of gratitude reflected in her eyes.
The drive back to her office was silent. She sat in the rear seat with her assistant, too overwhelmed and at a loss of speech. Her head ached from all the crying.
"So we have managed to speak to twenty women today. Tomorrow, I'll go and supervise the schools that are still under construction in these areas."
"Hmm." Sitara closed her eyes, sinking her head deep into the crest of the car seat. Her head spinned, thinking of all those women and their children. One of them seemed exactly like Abeer.
She didn't know if she was confident enough to be taking this up. She couldn't be sure if she was doing the right thing. It was true that she was overwhelmed and a complete mess on her very first day itself, but for the first time in her life; she was this proud of herself.
The fact that she couldn't simply stare in despair at all that was unfolding in front of her eyes, but also do enough for those people so that they could get out of their respective toxic lives was both empowering and fulfilling. She felt like she had truly done something today.
In all these years, she could've have never thought of being on this side. As a victim herself, she could have never thought that there would come a day when she'd hold the power to help others like her come out of this vicious cycle of control and abuse.
She gazed at the traffic from her window, recalling her marriage with Asad.
She couldn't have been more relived at her decision to leave him. She knew that she was never brave enough, but at that moment it was the baby growing inside her that had given her both, the courage and a purpose to take that step.
Had it been left to herself, she felt ashamed to admit that she'd have probably endured him for all her life. In a way, it was Abeer who had saved her life.
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